Advocates make case to save 'clubhouses' from budget ax

Wednesday

Oct 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 28, 2009 at 2:48 PM

Warning that the end may be near for the state's 32 "clubhouses" for the mentally ill, some 700 advocates gathered for a Beacon Hill rally yesterday to protest the possible end of funding that provides services to 8,000 people with mental disabilities.

Matthew Kaplan/Daily News correspondent

Warning that the end may be near for the state's 32 "clubhouses" for the mentally ill, some 700 advocates gathered for a Beacon Hill rally yesterday to protest the possible end of funding that provides services to 8,000 people with mental disabilities.

"I'm terrified," said Mark Maragnano, director of the Charles Webster Potter Place clubhouse in Waltham. "I really feel like the Department of Mental Health will make a great mistake here."

Clubhouses are community centers for the mentally ill.

Advocates for the community centers fear that Gov. Deval Patrick, faced with a $600 million budget deficit, will cut the $10 million that provides services from job training and help overcoming substance abuse to assistance with housing and schooling.

"We really feel like we're fighting for our lives," Maragnano said.

Advocates and mental health workers have said they have heard that funding for the clubhouse could be in jeopardy with this round of state budget cuts.

Protesters gathered in front of the Department of Mental Health office, chanting and holding signs. The group then marched to the State House, gathering on the front steps. The protesters then brought the rally inside, eventually converging in front of Patrick's office where they spoke with Patrick aide Tom Reece. They asked that Patrick spare clubhouses in upcoming anticipated budget cuts.

Cyndi Roy, Executive Office of Administration and Finance spokeswoman, said the governor will not announce how he plans to close the budget gap until tomorrow.

"He's looking at everything right now," she said. "He's taking the time he has to do this in the most responsible way possible."

The mental health department received a budget this fiscal year of about $644 million, a $40 million reduction from last year's budget, spokeswoman Anna Chinappi said. The department currently faces a $13 million shortfall, she said.

"All agencies have had to make very painful decisions," Chinappi said.

"Everything is on the table. We won't know the details until the governor makes the announcement on Thursday," Chinappi said.

Last spring the governor reduced funding for clubhouses by $1 million for six months. The reduction caused clubhouses to lay off staff and reduce services and hours.

Statewide, clubhouses received about $19 million this fiscal year, said Kathy Smith, a staff member with the Waltham-based Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition.

Reza Stein, executive director of the Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition, said Patrick should not cut funding to clubhouses because they act as an important community-based safety net for the mentally ill.

Last year's cuts reduced Potter Place's budget by $60,000, which meant the clubhouse had to lay off one staff member, Maragnano said.

Potter Place currently has a $550,000 budget, with seven staff members serving about 50 people a day and around 230 people a year, he said.

If the state reduces funding for Potter Place and other clubhouses, then hospitals and emergency rooms will see an increase in mentally ill patients, Stein said. Maragnano said he thought closing clubhouses would psychologically devastate the mentally ill and increase homelessness and unemployment.

"I fear how many lives we'll lose," he said. "If this door closes in Waltham, I fear for the lives for our members (and) I fear for the city."